New York City has a new bombshell in town, and she’s none other than famed model and actress Melyssa Ford! Starring in Bravo’s new reality show Blood, Sweat, and Heels, we’ll get to see the former video vixen navigate the ranks of her new real estate career — as well as stir up some drama!

Wetpaint Entertainment recently caught up with Melyssa at the Blood, Sweat, and Heels premiere party on December 10, where she dished on dating, dealing with drama, and opened up about her insecurities.

Wetpaint Entertainment: What has the transition from modeling to working in real estate been like for you?

Melyssa Ford: You know, you have to take with you a sense of professionalism no matter what career it is that you decide to occupy in. I’ve always been a huge risk-taker. I don’t ever allow anything or anybody to define who I’m supposed to be. I’ve always had an interest in real estate, but I never had a strong belief that I could actually do it until last year. There are some things that just kind of happened, which will be uncovered in the show, which led me to believe this was a viable career opportunity for me. I just took my ability to market myself; my professionalism that I’ve accumulated over the years of being a model and actress; and my sense of determination and tenacity. And that is what makes a real estate agent here in New York City.

So as a model and actress you’re definitely no stranger to the entertainment world, but did you have any insecurities about joining a reality show?

Oh my God! If you don’t have any insecurity about joining a reality show, then I wanna study you! Absolutely, you question everything about yourself. You question, “Was my reaction to whatever authentic? Was it because there were cameras there? What would I have really done?” You go through a lot mentally, and I am an over-thinker by nature, so I literally almost drove myself nuts.

The only thing that I could do was tell myself and remind myself to just have fun! And to not be afraid to reveal some things about myself that may be a little embarrassing or may be a little humiliating. At the end of the day, there might be somebody out there watching my story who relates to me, who feels like they can go on another day or make certain choices because they were able to see me do that in front of the entire world. So that’s what lead me to want to do this show. And then of course, hello, this is Bravo!Now in the trailer for the show, we see that your mother can be a little bit critical of your dating life. Can you tell us about that dynamic?

[Laughs] The funny thing is my mother is not actually that critical! For my mother to actually to voice her opinion is shocking, which is why I reacted in the promo like, “Mother, what the heck!” I’m always shocked whenever she’s got an opinion about a friend or boyfriend, because she usually just stays very, very quiet. She really has let me lead my own life, but, you know, she’s gonna be a mom! She probably holds back judgment.

Credit:
Theo Wargo/Bravo

There’s also a lot of shade being thrown around in the promo and people getting crazy!

I mean, yeah! We are a bunch of independent, strong-minded, highly-opinionated women. But that doesn’t mean we that dislike each other, or that we can’t get over qualms that develop. We handle our conflicts, I think, in a very mature manner. It’s funny because we all do have the ability to talk out of the sides of our faces, but there’s a lot of humor involved in it. I don’t think we really hit below the belt. Well, I can only speak for myself.

You have a large following on Instagram and Twitter. Is there any message you wanted to give to your fans?

To my fans who have followed me for these 14 years, you guys are amazing. You mean the world to me. Thank you for always sticking by me and defending me when the naysayers were talking ish about me. They’re dedicated and they go to the mat for me. They’re awesome!

Are there any other projects you have on the way that you want us to know about?

I’ve got a whole bunch of other stuff that’s cooking in the pot that’s gonna be revealed as times goes on. But in all honesty, I’m still trying to get my bearings over what’s happened. The last year of my life has been like a roller coaster ride times ten! It has been fabulous, amazing, mind-boggling. Sometimes I pinch myself, it’s just great. So I’m just enjoying this moment on the ride. It’s Bravo, bitch! [Laughs]

Blood, Sweat, and Heels premieres January 5, 3014 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. Will you tune in?